Hulbert on Markets

Obama's Effect on Stocks

Some investors will ignore the State of the Union and instead focus on the election cycle: Year two is historically lousy for the market.

For investors who keep track of the presidential election-year cycle, 2014 is a big deal: It's the dreaded "year two."

According to those who follow the cycle, the market has a historical tendency to perform better or worse depending on the year of the president's term. Over the past century, second years have turned out to be the worst...